Around him several of the males began to growl. As if drawn by the tension, a lean red-haired male pushed through the kitchen door, wiping his hand on a white towel as he came. The sleeveless shirt he was wearing displayed an array of tattoos running up and down his muscular arms. With the trio of gold hoops in both ears and his eyebrow piercing, he looked like trouble. He was followed by the slender, curly-haired female Isaiah had seen waiting tables earlier in the evening.
Meredith held up her hand. “Enough.”
Several of the males shot her a glare, but subsided. Isaiah was surprised at how all the males deferred to her. She was obviously the alpha female of this little pack. But where was the alpha male?
The thought of another male having the right to put his hands on her made Isaiah see red. A low, menacing growl came from deep in his chest. The younger woman took a step toward the red-haired male. He wrapped his arm around her protectively.
The tension in the room grew until it was so thick it was almost impossible to breathe. He didn’t give a damn. He wasn’t leaving. Not until he talked to Meredith.
The woman in question stepped forward and placed her hands on her hips. She exuded confidence, which was sexy as hell and turned him on even more. “Don’t think you can come in here and threaten my family, wolf.” She spat the last as though it were a bad word.
Having her so near, he could see the smoothness of her skin and smell her delicious scent. Unable to resist, he lowered his head and sniffed the curve of her neck. She smelled like something rare and exotic, a combination of musk, cinnamon and heat that was intoxicating. She shivered and started to lean toward him. He wanted to howl with pleasure. But it ended far too soon for his liking when someone pulled her away.
Isaiah jerked his head up to see who had ruined the moment between him and Meredith. It was one of the younger men. He started toward him, the promise of retaliation stamped on his face, only to have Meredith step in front of him again. “He’s my son.”
That brought Isaiah up cold. If there was one thing he could understand, it was wanting to protect family. He addressed the younger man directly, looking over Meredith’s head. “I mean her no harm.”
“What about the rest of them? Why are you here? Who sent you?”
Meredith was still in front of him demanding answers.
He sighed and rolled his head to work out some of the kinks in his neck. “No one sent me. I didn’t come here to find any of you. I was just wandering the streets, heard a woman singing and came in.”
“I don’t believe you,” said the man Meredith had called her son.
“Michael,” she warned, and he subsided, but not without first giving Isaiah a look that promised death if he made a move toward his mother. Isaiah could respect that.
“There’s nothing for you here. You need to leave.” Isaiah understood her wanting to protect the pack, but he was curious why Meredith was in such a hurry to get rid of him when he obviously meant no harm.
“I’m not sure we should let him leave.” The bouncer from the door spoke up. “What if he’s working with the hunters?”
The menacing growl that came from Isaiah was impossible to suppress. “I kill hunters, pup, and anyone who works with them.”
“So you say,” the other male who’d worked behind the bar countered.
“Are you questioning my word?” He’d never had anyone do such a thing. He was a Striker. Their loyalty and honesty was above reproach.
“Enough.” Meredith tapped the toe of her high-heeled shoe on the wooden floor. It drew his gaze down over her long, shapely legs and back up again. “No one is going to hurt anyone. And you’re leaving.”
It was time to regroup. Things were too volatile with so many males in the mix. They were on a short leash at the moment, but Isaiah had no doubt all the males would swing into action in the blink of an eye if they thought it was necessary. He didn’t want to be put in a position of having to hurt them. That certainly wouldn’t go over well with Meredith. The last thing he wanted was to antagonize her any more than he already had.
“I want to talk to you. Two minutes,” he added before she could protest. “Alone.”
Predictably enough, the males protested, but in the end Meredith was alpha and the rest of them headed toward to the kitchen.
“I’ll only be on the other side of the door,” Michael warned.
Isaiah inclined his head in understanding.
Meredith waited until they were all gone before turning back to him. “We’re alone. What do you want?”
He shifted until they were so close they were almost touching. He could feel the heat from her skin, see the way her pupils dilated and the pulse in her neck beat faster. There was a slight hitch in her breathing as he invaded her space.
They weren’t touching, not quite. He raised his hand and lightly brushed the curve of her cheek with the back of his knuckles. She sucked in a breath and the movement had her breasts touching his chest. Even through the layers of their clothing, he could feel the hard tips of her nipples.
Need roared through him. Raw desire pumped through his veins. He wanted Meredith more than he’d wanted anything in his life, as though she was somehow necessary to him.
He leaned down, his lips practically caressing hers as he answered her question. “You, Meredith. I want you.”
Savage Transformation
Lexxie Couper
She thought she had a life—until being hunted shows her she’s never really lived.
Savage Australia, Book 2
Jacqueline Huddart has spent her entire adult life on the run. Not from the law, or even a jealous lover. From herself—and what she is. That strategy works for her until a funeral demands she return to home ground, and her best friend disappears. Finding Delainie means Jackie must confront the truth…and accept the help of a mysterious, sexy-as-sin Texan.
Marshall Rourke isn’t the only one flying under the radar. He’s on an off-the-grid quest to track down a rogue ex-partner who hunts paranormal beings for the joy of the kill. Convincing the unexpectedly feisty Jackie to trust him isn’t easy, but there’s no better way to lure the hunter into the open than to dangle as unique a target as Jackie—the last Tasmanian Tiger shifter in existence.
Trouble is, Marshall hadn’t counted on Jackie’s brutal right cross. Or the fact that her simmering sexuality calls to his inner wolf on every imaginable level. And that the killer is about to use their desire to add them both to his trophy case…
Warning: This title contains the following: explicit sex out in the bush, wild shifter sex in an abandoned shack, passionate sex in a hotel shower. Plus a Texan hero with a very big secret, an Australian heroine with an even bigger one, a significant amount of violence and as always, Australian sarcasm.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Savage Transformation
Copyright © 2010 by Lexxie Couper
ISBN: 978-1-60928-198-4
Edited by Heidi Moore
Cover by Scott Carpenter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: September 2010
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